Chapter 3 – “I’m so cold!!”
Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)
Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)
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Shan Ming quickly cleaned up the wolf legs. He turned his head and saw that the child was holding a branch with both hands and roasting it on the fire. The fire light reflected his little face and the tears on it were clearly visible.
After Shan Ming was done, he leaned against the nearby tree to rest. He took off his dirty camouflage jacket and unwound the bandages on his arms one by one. He planned to change his wound dressing.
The first-aid wound dressing that he brought with him was running out. There was only half a roll of bandages left and it was still damp. The conditions of his wounds were so bad. The cut which was not that deep at first now became even more serious due to infection. Shan Ming looked at his festering wound and frowned. There was nothing more he could do.
He treated it briefly by sprinkling the wound with medicine and wrapping it using a clean bandage. He had to get out of here as soon as possible. He knew his arms wouldn’t last a few days in this state.
After changing his dressing, he looked up to find the child standing with his mouth tightly shut. The little kid’s body was covered in sweat. His rag-like clothes were floating on his body. Shan Ming is worried if the torn pieces of clothes might float to the fire.
After a while, the smell of cooked meat wafted out. Shan Ming swallowed his saliva and got his eyes fixed on the meat. After another half hour, the child turned around and walked towards him holding the branch. He then handed the meat to his eyes, “Is it ready to eat?”
Shan Ming took it over and looked at it. He didn’t care about burning his mouth, so he took a bite first. Because he ate too fast, his mouth was blistered. But he didn’t care about that much anymore. He was too hungry. So damn hungry. He almost couldn’t keep his sanity anymore.
Shen Changze stared at Shan Ming with his black eyes. He watched the large piece of meat being sent into Shan Ming’s mouth bit by bit. His own mouth began to overflow with saliva.
Shan Ming swallowed the meat in only two to three bites. He then looked up at a child and returned the branch to him, “Continue to roast.”
The child took the branch and returned silently to the fire. He skewered a few more slices of meat, struggling to lift the heavy branch. He was eagerly hoping that the meat would be cooked soon.
After this being done several times, Shan Ming swallowed the last few large pieces of tasteless meat into his stomach. Although it was not tasty, it solved the biggest problem at the moment. After Shan Ming was full, Shen Changze hid aside and tore up some wolf meat for himself. He stuffed it into his mouth, looking very reluctant.
Shan Ming looked at him strangely. Normally, people who have been hungry for a long time will not be picky eaters no matter what. He asked, “Is it unpalatable?”
The child swallowed a small piece of meat with difficulty and nodded as an answer.
Shan Ming scoffed, “Are you still picky about food in this kind of place?”
The child was silent for a while before saying, “There is a type of bug that is sweet and tastes better than this.”
Shan Ming was startled, “You eat bugs?”
The child looked like he was about to cry again, “I was too hungry.”
Shan Ming really felt that this kid owned luck poured from the heavens. It is a miracle that he dared to catch a bug and eat it without being poisoned to death in this kind of primaeval forest.
The reason why Shan Ming has been so hungry for the past three days was because in the swamp area, there were very few mammals. Most of them are bugs and flying animals. He dared not to eat them and was not good at catching them. If he dared to eat them then he would have eaten them. So after three days, his stomach was empty because he couldn’t eat them. When he was fighting guerrilla warfare in Africa at the age of thirteen, he had to eat grass for six days at most. But at that time, he didn’t have to be awake 24 hours a day and he didn’t have to tense his nerves up all the time. He had walked in the swamp for more than ten hours in a state of high alert.
That was because this time, he didn’t have his comrades in arms with him.
When he was alone, his physical exertion was pushed to the limit. Come to think of it, maybe it is a good thing to bump into this child. At least he could talk a few words with him so that he can stay awake for a while longer and not fall asleep.
It’s a pity that a five-year-old child is not a qualified and trustworthy comrade-in-arm. He must not close his eyes until he reaches a safer place.
After eating until his stomach was full, Shan Ming felt even sleepier. The fatigue of the past few days continued to emerge from various painful parts of his body. He really wanted to just lie on the ground and have a good sleep.
He pinched his thigh and forced himself to stay awake. Now that he was full he had to hurry on his way as soon as possible. He couldn’t continue to be stranded here. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the child had laid on the ground and fell asleep. Shan Ming felt envious. This child can be so carefree since he doesn’t know of any danger.
Shan Ming picked up his backpack, gun and dagger. He equipped himself with them properly and then walked to Shen Changze’s side and kicked him.
The child woke up suddenly from his sleep and quickly got up from the ground.
Shan Ming said: “Let’s go.” Although this child is a little burden, he decided to take him with him. As long as the child can keep him awake, it is useful to have him with him.
The child wrinkled his pretty face, “I can’t walk anymore. Let’s take a rest.”
Shan Ming said with a cold face, “Am I following you or are you following me?” After speaking, he stomped on the fire to put the fire out and walked forward.
Shen Changze sobbed a few times, picked up his food, and followed him step by step.
The child was trembling with fright from the sounds of all kinds of birds and beasts in the forest. The silence between him and Shan Ming made him feel even more afraid. He couldn’t help but want to talk to him. So he whispered behind him, “Uncle, what to call you? What’s your name?”
Shan Ming casually told him his name.
“How old are you?”
Shan Ming thought hard on this. “Seventeen? I could be eighteen or am I nineteen? Oh, I should be eighteen now.”
“Why don’t you know how old you are?”
“Why do I have to know? It’s useless to care about this.”
The child thought for a while and said, “But you can celebrate your birthday each year.”
Shan Ming was too lazy to answer. With a child, there is really nothing serious to talk about. It was such a pity that he had no choice but to only talk to a child.
“Uncle, are we going to die?”
Shan Ming said: “I don’t know about you but I definitely won’t die.”
The child choked up and said: “I don’t want to die. Mom and Dad will come to save me.”
Shan Ming did not have the emotional intelligence to tell white lies so he said bluntly: “Just give up. They won’t be able to find you.”
“No. They are very powerful people. They will definitely find me!”
Shan Ming suddenly remembered that the child crashed here on a private plane. His family should be wealthy. If it wasn’t because of the difficult situation, he really wanted to find the wreckage of the plane. If the child is really of high status, it wouldn’t be surprising for the parents to look for him in this place. It’s a pity that the child can’t just stay where he is and wait for them. Otherwise, even if they did find him in the end, they’ll only find his bones.
Now the only way to survive is to get out of here.
One adult and one child continued to walk like that for more than four hours and the sky gradually darkened.
Shan Ming was confident now that he had walked out of the evil swamp area, there should be far fewer deadly bugs here. So he was finally able to relax his vigilance a little. He planned to take a nap after making a fire. He couldn’t take it anymore.
Shan Ming chose a place that was most suitable for defence against anything dangerous. He had his back against a huge rock and an open space was in front of him. There would be no hiding place for any dangerous animals near him. He then instructed Shen Changze to pick up some dry trees and pile them on the ground and he lit a fire.
It was very cold in the forest after nightfall. The air dropped to about four or five degrees celsius. Shan Ming’s clothes couldn’t keep out the cold at all. The previous two days were difficult for him. Today, however, with the fire near him, he felt much better.
But Shen Changze was almost naked with his rag of clothes. Seeing the child still shivering despite being near the fire, Shan Ming once again wondered how this child had survived till now.
He sat down with his back against the rock and handed him his watch. He then said, “Listen to me, kid. I’m going to sleep for a while now. You wake me up in an hour.”
The child took the watch and looked at him with uncertainty in his eyes.
“During this hour, you must look at your surroundings and wake me up immediately if there is any dangerous situation. You are absolutely not allowed to fall asleep. If you dare to fall asleep, I will throw you into the fire.”
The child’s body trembled as he heard the threat. He looked at him in fear and nodded hastily.
Shan Ming emphasised again, “One hour.” After speaking, he closed his eyes.
He had just closed his eyes for a while when he suddenly felt movement around him. He opened his eyes suddenly and the dagger in his hand slashed out in the air.
“Ah!” The child screamed, looking at the blade lying across his neck.
Shan Ming glared angrily, “You are fucking courting death.”
The child sobbed, “Uncle, I’m so cold.”
Shan Ming closed his eyes again, “Then go jump into the fire. Stay away from me. Don’t come near me when I sleep.” Years of bloody career made him maintain a high level of vigilance even in his sleep. Therefore, it is a threat for the child to be close to him when he is asleep.
The child bit his lip and crawled to his side on all fours.
Shan Ming opened his eyes again and looked at him coldly.
Their eyes met. Although trembling with fright, he still crawled onto him little by little and whispered, “Uncle, I’m so cold. Aren’t you cold?” After speaking, he began to crawl into his arms tentatively.
Shan Ming actually felt cold. Even when he was near the fire, his hands and feet were still cold but he could stand it.
Apparently, the kid couldn’t stand it.
He picked Shen Changze up by the collar and threw him aside, “You want to die?”
Looking at how cold Shan Ming was to him, the child couldn’t help feeling wronged and scared. Thus, he started to cry, “I’m cold, I’m cold! Aaaa, mama! I’m so cold!!”
He had been walking alone in the coldness and darkness for several days, feeding on worms, drinking dirty water mixed with mud… No matter how much he cried, he couldn’t get rid of that nightmarish experience from his head. He finally met another human being, but the person was so cold and terrifying that he couldn’t even get a hug from him. The child was on the edge of an emotional breakdown.
In his previous simple world, every adult he met had liked him, wanted to hug him, and was reluctant to refuse any request made from him. But the only other human being he met here in such a desperate situation was so cold. He didn’t understand why this person did not like him. He doesn’t like this person either. In fact, he hates him and is afraid of him very much. But in this huge forest, only by staying next to this person can he feel a little safer than before.
The child was so sad and so frightened. His tears burst out of control and he cried loudly, “Mammmma!! Mammmmma!! I’m so cold. Aaaa!!! Aaaa!!! I want my mama!!”
Shan Ming was annoyed by him so much that he really wanted to stuff the child’s mouth with something.
He has never been in contact with children in his life. His own childhood was robbed off of him so he doesn’t know that children are very difficult to deal with. In his memory, he remembered that if he was told not to cry and he would still cry, it won’t take long for him to be beaten by someone.
Shan Ming roared, “Do you want to be beaten?”
The child cried, “If you hit me, you’re a bad guy. I’m so cold, Aaaa aaaa aaaa aaa!! Go ahead and beat me up, you’re a bad guy, you’re evil, you’re a villain!”
The child was crying incoherently. His whole body was shaking from crying and Shan Ming’s head felt like it was about to explode from hearing him cry.
Shan Ming wanted to slap him but felt that it probably made him cry even more and he might not stop crying for the whole night.
He cursed irritably and pulled the child to get on top of him by the arm.
When the child’s weight was on Shan Ming’s body, he couldn’t describe how he felt in his heart. They are both human beings. So, is this what it felt like to hold a child? Children are very fragile. It is almost as if there are only bones in the child. He is very light but somehow, it also felt a bit uncomfortable for the weight to press on the stomach.
He has never held a child in his arms. He just thinks to himself that this feeling is very strange. He can encircle the child’s whole body with one hand. How can a child be so small?
After Shen Changze lay on Shan Ming’s body, his crying stopped abruptly. He raised his head to look at Shan Ming with teary eyes.
Shan Ming said with a cold face, “If you want to keep warm, just stay still. If you cry again…” Shan Ming moved his hand and a cold light flashed in the dark. There was a thin bloodstain on the child’s calf, “How many tears have you shed before? That’ll be how much blood I’ll let you shed.”
The wound was extremely shallow. It was only a little scratch. But it still frightened the child so much that he couldn’t move.
Shan Ming put away his dagger and unbuttoned his jacket. He wrapped the child’s small body into his clothes. He thought to himself that he could just keep himself warm with the child anyway. It’s a win-win situation.
The child lay on his belly very obediently with his small arms wrapped around Shan Ming’s waist, hugging him tightly.
Shan Ming whispered: “What I said just now. Repeat it.”
The child’s soft little head was leaning against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Although this person smelled bad, his body heat made him feel at ease. When he heard the question, he immediately answered : “Wake you up in an hour.”
“If you fell asleep…”
The child clenched the watch in his hand, “No, I will not sleep.”
Shan Ming didn’t want to put his life in the hands of a five-year-old child but he was so sleepy that his eyelids were shaking. If he didn’t sleep, he wouldn’t be able to even crawl forward the next day. So he closed his eyes again.
The body in his arms began to heat up, covering Shan Ming’s stomach warmly. He fell into a deep sleep.
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*Author’s Note: When I think of such a delicate and small boy who only dares to hide in Shou’s arms and cry for now. But one day, he will grow up to be a strong Gong and put our Shou under pressure… I am so excited that my face is bloody.-SCQ
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*Translator’s Note: ☝🏻 Yes, I’m excited too. Haha. But that will only happen when he is 19 years old. A long way to go. Half of the novel will be about him growing up and harbouring a desire for Shan Ming but it was fun to see his development. We have about 150+ chapters so yeah… Halfway through reading this novel, I almost forgot that it’s BL. It’s full of action! I wish a series could be made out of this novel. -K
*GLOSSARY:
- Mama [妈妈 / Māma] means ‘mother’ in Chinese. SCZ was calling for his mother when he was crying. I will use ‘mama’ and ‘baba’ [爸爸 / Bàba] in my translation for ‘mother’ and ‘father’. This is because I think it’s more suitable since SCZ will call SM ‘baba’ soon and he will also call him this when they get it on 😝. It sounded so sinful that I loved it lololol.
Next update: 2023.05.08
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